Saudis Preparing Assault on Yemen Port

[Kate Turlington + 44]

Reports are saying that the Saudis are digging in and preparing an attack on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah. This will be a disaster if this port infrastructure is taken out of commission. And the West is not going to intervene. 

[damirUSBiH + 327]

A Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s exiled government began an assault Wednesday morning on Yemen’s port city of Hodeida, a crucial battle in the 3-year-old conflict that aid agencies warned could push the Arab world’s poorest country into further chaos.Iranian-aligned Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies for years have held the Red Sea port, crucial to food supplies in a nation on the brink of famine after years of war. The battle for Hodeida, if the Houthis don’t withdraw, also may mark the first major street-to-street urban fighting for the Saudi-led coalition, which can be deadly for both combatants and civilians alike.The United Nations and other aid groups already had pulled their international staff from Hodeida ahead of the rumored assault.

[Pavel + 384]

Remind, over 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen’s civil war, which has displaced 2 million more and helped spawn a cholera epidemic....And, now is starting total chaos

[ThunderBlade + 231]

I have to say Saudi Arabia is instability factor in Middle East

[pinto + 293]

Iran led a revolution in Yemen and installed their own puppet. They immediately began to announce themselves as spring boards for Iran's' destruction of House of Saud. Then began firing Iranian supplied missiles at Riyad (Saudi capital). Than, Saudi had started with their answer....Now, we have unofficial war between them, and  Israel is around....

[damirUSBiH + 327]

10 minutes ago, Pavel said:

Remind, over 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen’s civil war, which has displaced 2 million more and helped spawn a cholera epidemic....And, now is starting total chaos

The Gulf Arab states only care about one thing - overarching sunni rule (and diminishing Iranian influence). The civilian population is simply the cost of achieving this aim....Sad.

[jpZelabal + 63]

Since there is a copyright on the victim and suffering status these poor starving people will just be ignored. Hypocrisy is all around of us...

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

Article worth reading carefully; the upcoming military action could be significant:

The Decisive Battle For Yemen’s Oil Port

"For Washington and the West, the Yemen crisis has been quite far down the pecking order of geopolitical threats. For the oil industry however, the threat of heaving an Iranian backed Houthi regime wielding power on Yemen’s main strategic geographic choke-points could be considered a nightmare scenario.

The conflict in the area presents a threat to international shipping lanes in the region that should not be taken lightly. The Houthis have attacked maritime traffic in the Red Sea and Aden area several times, using Iranian supplied missiles the majority of the time.

The strategic position of Yemen should not be underestimated. Looking at the militarization of the Horn of Africa, where all parties, including UAE, Turkey, Qatar, China and even Iran, are setting up military bases, a military doomsday scenario could be looming.

With Iran-Qatar and Chinese forces in Djibouti and other countries setting up military basis, or even building new navy ports, a combined Yemen-Horn of Africa Iranian power projection could be threatening the world’s most important sea lane.

Looking at oil and gas volumes, slated to be more than 3.4 million bpd of oil and more than 12% of global LNG, its closure would be disastrous to European and U.S. markets. ..."

 

[Olga Tkachuk + 33]

'The West' is intervening plenty - in support of Saudi. The US government has actively backed KSA's intervention in Yemen for three years, providing US Navy warships, refueling Saudi planes, sharing military intel, and selling tens of billions of dollars worth of arms that are being dumped on the civilian population. 

As for Iran - sure, they provide a measure of support, but to call the Houthis their 'puppets' is ridiculous. They follow different sects, and a significant chunk of orthodox Twelvers don't look too kindly on Zayidis. Furthermore, Yemeni Shias have been intermittently fighting Sunnis since the Ottomans tried to invade their mountain villages centuries ago.

The current Saudi plan - once again, actively supported by the US, UAE, and others, and passively by many more, including western countries such as the UK - is to starve them until they give up. Taking Hodeidah is to cut off the only source of food (90% of which was imported even BEFORE the conflict) and medical aid to the wider region. It's an old, tried, tested and true way of killing off a troublesome population. Biafra provides a nice historical parallel. The Igbo, just like the Houthis, fought better than the Nigerian army, but it was the latter who was connected to all the oil money.

And that oft-reported 10,000 casualty number - anyone notice that it hasn't grown in now years, despite the artificial famine, the more than one million suspected cases of cholera and the ongoing bombing? 

[HermitMunster + 146]

Let them fight it out